Popular Payment Methods – Risk That Is Involved

by

All of the below online or physical payment processors are very safe in general, but we are talking here about if you run onto a thief, you have already sent him your cash and what are your chances of getting your money back. Use this information if you are assuming a Scam and if you are dealing with large amounts of money. The fees vary from payment to payment method and the risks associated with a specific payment method depend on the situation you are in. What are the pro’s and con’s of each one? What is the best way to make a transaction? What is the best payment method for a seller and which one is more convenient for the buyer? Read on!

egold

e-gold is an electronic currency 100% backed at all times by gold bullion in allocated storage. e-gold is integrated into an account based payment system that empowers people to use gold as money. Specifically, the e-gold payment system enables people to Spend specified weights of gold to other e-gold accounts. Only the ownership changes – the gold in the treasury grade vault stays put. e-gold is always as good as the gold it’s backed with – this year, next year, a thousand years from now. Buying e-gold can also be used as an investment opportunity. There is no buyer safety program, once you do the payment you can’t get your money back, so be careful and check to whom you are sending your money. I have done lots of transactions with it, if you use it wisely e-gold is a good payment processor. To buy or sell egold you can visit here. To open up a e-gold account go here:

Founded in 1998, PayPal, an eBay Company, enables any individual or business with an email address to securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online. In Online payment processors it is one of the safest that is if you deal with caution. Always check to who you send your funds.

RISK: Risk is 100% on the Buyer Side. That paypal has a buyer protection program will not help you much if you run onto an experienced scammer.

Moneybookers

Moneybookers is a tool that allows you to safely send and receive money via email – instantly. You can send money from your credit/debit card, transfer money to and from your bank account. Use Moneybookers whenever you need to send money to someone (settle a debt with a friend, pay for online purchase/auctions…) or when someone needs to send money to you. This one is my favorite. Customer support, fees, everything is great with them. Processing and appearance is same as with other online payment processors.

Western Union is a method of transferring cash from person to person in minutes. It is available in over 200 countries and territories worldwide usually in a bank or postal office. There are a number of reasons that you might want to send money to a family member or friend:

* when they have run out of money on holiday
* when they have had their wallet, cash or bank cards stolen abroad and need money urgently
* to help pay student fees
* as a birthday gift

But never to pay for an item that you are unsure about receiving! It is widely used as a money laundering option amongst scammers. I post more about it here.

These methods are the easiest payment from and is typically used when samples or small quantity shipments are transported by air. It should be used between buyers and sellers who have already established a mutual trust, as those are the fastest and cheapest way of cash transfer. It usually takes 3-4 days for such a wire transfer anywhere in the world and up 5-10 days for a postal money order. If you will be using this method try and propose a 50/50 or 30/70 deal. That is 50% of money in advance and 50% after you receive the goods.

RISK: RIsk is mostly on the buyers side. While you are sending money to an official address or bank account remember it still could be a fake one.

L/C Letter Of Credit

A binding document that a buyer can request from his bank in order to guarantee that the payment for goods will be transferred to the seller. Basically, a letter of credit gives the seller reassurance that he will receive the payment for the goods. In order for the payment to occur, the seller has to present the bank with the necessary shipping documents confirming the delivery of goods within a given time frame. It is often used in international trade to eliminate risks such as unfamiliarity with the foreign country, customs, or political instability.

RISK: Evenly shared between buyer and supplier.

Escrow

Escrow is a third party service which makes online deals safe. Once a deal between buyer (import) and supplier (export) is negotiated, the buyer sends money to escrow. When your funds arrive at escrows office they notify the supplier about this, he then sends the goods directly to us. When we receive the goods we have an inspection period offered in this time we can verify the validity of our items. If everything works, we call escrow who releases the payment to the buyer. Payment is done, goods have arrived, everybody is happy. Please note there are also FAKE ESCROW SERVICES.

RISK: Evenly shared between buyer and supplier.

D/P Document Against Payment or Bill of Exchange

Instructions given by a seller to his bank that the document attached to a SIGHT draft for collection are deliverable to the buyer only against payment. When the foreign bank receives the documents, they will contact the buyer and provide documents to the buyer only when the buyer pays.

Diagram:

* Seller fills out a form at his bank
* Exporter sends the goods and documents to freight forwarder
* Freight forwarder sends items and gets bill of lading signed by carrier
* Freight forwarder sends documents to sellers bank
* Bank sends them to buyers bank
* Buyer pays or accepts and gets the documents
* Buyer gives documents to carrier and gets merchandise
* Buyers bank sends the money to the seller

RISK: Risk is mostly on the seller side.

Goods in Advance or Open Account

If you have come to an agreement whereby the seller will send the goods first and after inspection you send the money, you may use any of these above mentioned payment methods. They all are safe.

RISK: Risk is 100% on the Seller Side.

SUMMARY

If you don’t know the seller and suspect a scam, play it safe. I recommend proposing a deal through escrow or letter of credit for the first time! These methods are longer in terms of time, but you would rather be safe then sorry. If the exporter denies these two payment methods, raise an alarm immediately. Most of the time these supposed sellers will be scammers, because these options are safe for buyer as well as the seller and your business partner should tell you a pretty good reason why he doesn’t want to use it. It is more expensive than a bank transfer or other methods, but you would rather pay 30$ – 50$ more when dealing with large quantities.